The story we’ll be buzzing about until opening night next Thursday is going to be the depth of this Raptors team. Yeah, we’ve been talking about it for years now, but tonight against the Pelicans it was on display in a slightly different, but equally dominant way. The offensive efficiency was blistering throughout the game (21 fast-break points), with the Raptors managing to score at least 30 points in each quarter.

Even with a lineup featuring the likes of Jordan Loyd, Kay Felder, Greg Monroe, Eric Moreland and Lorenzo Brown — the Raptors (905) were able to score at will. Whether you attribute this offensive display to the coaching staff, or to the horrid New Orleans defense (and to be fair, the Raptors played very little defense themselves), one thing is clear — the message that first year head coach Nick Nurse is attempting to drill into the heads of his players is getting through.

New Orleans looked ragged, to be perfectly honest. This isn’t the same team — especially on defense — that we saw win game after spirited game en route to nearly 50 wins. Anthony Davis ended up playing 31 minutes in the team’s final preseason game, including minutes played in the fourth quarter. It was an embarrassing sign for the Pelicans — it could be a long...